Necromancing the Stone
Piper summons Grams for Wyatt's Wiccaning ceremony. Grams is surprised to find that he is a boy. She plans to summon every matriarch since the witch trials and warns Piper about the Necromancer, who had attacked during Patty's ceremony.
A minion of the ghostly Necromancer presents him with a fairy in a glass jar — and he has deliberately not punched holes in the lid. The fairy dies and the Necromancer absorbs her escaping spirit, becoming more solid. Jason is going to Hong Kong for the next six months and wants to take Phoebe with him. Phoebe is reluctant but Jason offers her the use of the corporate jet. Meanwhile, Paige casts a truth spell on Nate and discovers that he has no problem with her being a witch, but the spell also reveals that he is married with children.
Piper is with Grams reading the Book of Shadows on the Necromancer, and finds marginal notes in Grams's handwriting. Grams tells Piper what she knows of the Necromancer — he wants to be resurrected for good and the spirits of the Halliwell witches would be perfect for that. Grams, Piper and Paige go to the Necromancer's lair and the sisters are surprised when the Necromancer calls her "Penny" in a pleasant tone. Grams blasts him with a spell and Paige throws a potion; the Necromancer bursts into flames. Paige says he can't be vanquished but (still upset over Nate) that they had "sent his sorry male [posterior] back to the Spirit Realm". The minion casts a spell and the Necromancer returns, in ghostly form. He says he had once been in love with Grams. The minion tells the Necromancer about Wyatt and the Wiccaning.
Meeting the Necromancer has evoked Grams's feelings about men. She is worried that a man cannot handle magic and that Wyatt will turn evil. She is unwilling to do the Wiccaning and won't even hold Wyatt.
Grams argues with Piper and Phoebe. At that time, the minion shimmers in and attacks. Grams tries to fight back but he waves a hand and flips Grams backward into the arms of the Necromancer. Piper vanquishes the minion, but the Necromancer vanishes, taking Grams with him. The Necromancer tries to convince Grams to summon the matriarchs; their spirits could fully resurrect them both.
The sisters are discussing what they should do. While Phoebe reads the Necromancers entry in the Book, looking for a weakness, Piper mentions the trivia about him that Grams had written on the pages. Phoebe, who once wrote trivia on Cole in the Book, suddenly realizes that Grams was the Necromancer's lover. They find the ghost-banishing spell in the Book; one must be dead to use it, but Grams is a ghost. They summon Grams, but she is under the Necromancer's spell.
The Necromancer soon appears. Grams starts the spell to summon the matriarchs, but Paige says a spell to free Grams's will. Grams admits to loving the Necromancer but she loves her family more. She says the banishment spell. Jason regrets having sprung his offer to go to Hong Kong with Phoebe. Phoebe, however, at first, wants to come lest she end up bitter like Grams. But when she meets Jason at the airport, she is carrying no bags. She has decided that her place is with her sisters, just for now.
Grams has changed her mind about Wyatt and is willing to do the ceremony.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Darryl is most amused by Paige's Armor-Piercing Question for Nate after the spell wears off.
- All Abusers Are Male: Subverted and lampshaded with the sisters' grandmother who dislikes the fact that Wyatt is male due to her own past experience with a demon she was in love with. The demon was evil and using her but also genuinely loved her. She comes to learn by the end of the episode that while some men are evil, men in general are not inherently abusers and that her prejudice is wrong.
- Armor-Piercing Question: After the truth spell wears off, Nate has no idea what's happened and questions why he's in a jail.Paige: Why don't you ask your wife?
- Armor-Piercing Response: Paige is delighted that Nate is accepting of her being a witch, until...Nate: My wife is gonna love this!
- Becoming the Mask: The Necromancer initially preyed on Grams as just another way to sustain himself. Then he actually fell in love with her.
- Big "OMG!": Phoebe, upon realizing that Grams and the Necromancer were lovers.
- Call-Back:
- Whereas the other sisters thought nothing of it, Phoebe can immediately tell from the Necromancer's Book of Shadows entry that Grams was in love with and betrayed by him. She made a similar entry for Cole back in Season 3.
- While arguing that Piper was meant to have a baby girl instead of Wyatt, Grams cites what the sisters experienced when they traveled to the future. Piper retorts that Prue was alive in that future and witches were hunted.
- Continuity Nod: When Paige asks about using the Truth Spell, Phoebe immediately tells her not to do it, clearly remembering the last time a Halliwell tried a truth spell.
- Dating Catwoman: The episode reveals that Grams had a relationship with a ghostly necromancer.
- First-Name Basis: The Necromancer addresses Grams by name, which her granddaughters take notice of.
- Irony: Nate would've been perfectly fine with her being a witch, just as Paige had hoped. Too bad he's married, has kids, and is generally a creep.
- Jerkass Ball: In light of Nate deceiving her, Paige spends the rest of the episode in a foul mood and keeps spouting Does Not Like Men-type lines whenever the opportunity arises.
- Love Hurts: The Necromancer truly loved Grams, and she him, but his later attack left her feeling manipulated, betrayed, and enraged. More than half a century later did not lessen the pain.Grams: I hate you!
The Necromancer: Yes, but you only hate me because you once loved me. After all, we only hate those who have gotten close to us, those who have gotten close enough to touch our hearts. - Mama Bear:
- With Grams refusing to do the wiccaning because Wyatt's a boy, Piper is pissed and has no problem telling off her otherwise beloved grandmother.Grams: Piper, you don't understand.
Piper: That you don't want to perform a blessing on my son?! You are damn right I do not understand! - Paige uses the truth spell to snap Grams out of the Necromancer's control. Grams says she does indeed love the Necromancer, but she says the banishing spell because her family will always come first.
- With Grams refusing to do the wiccaning because Wyatt's a boy, Piper is pissed and has no problem telling off her otherwise beloved grandmother.
- Memory Wipe Exploitation: Paige casts the truth spell on her current boyfriend to find out how he would react to dating a witch. He was fine with that part, but then revealed that he has a wife and two children. Paige then had to figure out how to keep him contained for the next twenty-four hours so he wouldn't out her as a witch.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After the Necromancer is done away with, Grams apologizes for her bad attitude towards men in general and the effect that's had on the family, particularly Wyatt in this episode.
- Noodle Incident: The Necromancer attacked during Patty's wiccaning. Grams responded by banishing him to the spirit realm.
- Not Helping Your Case: Darryl is not happy about Paige just sticking Nate in a cell and says this is entirely inappropriate. Thanks to the truth spell, Nate immediately calls Darryl a donut hog, making the guy less inclined to keep fighting Paige on this.
- Sexy Shirt Switch: Paige borrows one of Nate's shirts when she has to Orb back to the Manor to help Piper vanquish the Creeper leader.
- Single Sex Offspring: Grams thinks Wyatt being a boy must be the result of magical interference as the family has had nothing but daughters since Melinda Warren.
- This Explains So Much: After Phoebe suggests Grams and the Necromancer were lovers, Piper says that would certainly explain the way Grams reacted whenever talking about or seeing the guy.
- Truth Serums: Paige uses a truth spell on her boyfriend to see how he'd react to the family secret since the spell comes with automatic Laser-Guided Amnesia. He provides some extra information, that he's married, but is also able to lie. He just has to quickly correct himself."I was going to tell you... no, I wasn't."
- Villains Out Shopping: According to what Grams wrote in the Book of Shadows, the Necromancer spent his downtime watching Clark Gable movies.
- Word, Schmord!: While Darryl argues about Paige leaving Nate in a jail cell.Darryl: The man's got a constitutional right, y'know?
Paige: Oh, Constitution, schmonstitution, Darryl. - You Can't Kill What's Already Dead: Piper notes the futility of trying to blow up the Necromancer since he's already a ghost.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Paige suggests Darryl just tell the other officers that Nate is insane, as anything the guy says about magic while in jail can just be chalked up to this.
- You're Insane!: Piper's reaction to Grams not wanting to do the wiccaning because Wyatt is a boy.
